PowerPoint Presentation
ENGLISH 101:UMB INTERNET TECHNOLOGYTUTORIAL WEBQUEST*This top
picture is not set in the frame of the panel exactly well. But it
is purposefully done in order to have it fill up the panel during
the presentation. I lucked out finding the right picture that had a
rounded fade at the bottom; it seems to work well with the
background of the PowerPoint theme.1Incoming Freshmen
See and Feel Progress
(By Way of Chaos)
around Our Campus.
This is Not Just Physical,
Its Virtual:
"New School Year Brings New Website at UMass Boston"
DEVELOPMENTDiscuss: There is no doubt Incoming Freshmen See and
Feel Progress (By Way of Chaos) around Our Campus. This is Not Just
Physical, Its Virtual:
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Article: Weve asked for a more modern website one that is easier
to navigate, accessible, and better captures the UMass Boston
experience.And after TWO YEARS of PLANNING, construction, and
testing, UMass Boston is kicking off the 2011-2012 school year with
a new site aimed at doing just that. The university launched a
redesigned website on Aug. 25.
This means as its rolled out, its already outdated. I think this
is why some of the newer technology is not represented on the
opening page links.
*The ENT superimposed over the image of Healey Construction Site
is a subliminal message of sorts: Although it is the Healey
Construction Site, nothing is really being done to the actual
library. The new ENTrance will look nice, but its a very expensive
illusion! It has nothing to do with my presentation, but I wanted
you to see my authorial intention! What we can do when we write
these days!2UNITY (SORT OF)
Discuss:This year we started to see a unification of the many
online tools we have here, in particular, this happened by making
links to important sites accessible and clearly visible on UMBs
main website, and by consolidating the many usernames and passwords
we used to have to log into these sites.
Before this unification navigating through UMBs websites was
fairly confusing.
Now, things are a bit easier, but the front of our UMB website
does not nearly begin to cover the virtual landscape of our
campus.
Students need to become comfortable with (and find online)
eReserves, course wikis and Blackboards. Although placing email,
WISER, Blackboard, and Library links in an accessible place has
helped, they have not really streamlined everything. Its still a
little chaotic to navigate it all until we become more familiar
with how things work.
--
*This video clip was recorded using a free App from the Mac App
store: Screen Recorder. Its set to autoplay and loop through
PowerPoint settings.3A WebQuest to ORGANIZE the VIRTUAL CHAOSDivide
UMB Online Spaces According to Function:
Discuss: The WebQuest I developed is meant to help to sort the
chaos by organizing some of the most used online features UMB has
to offer into three functions: Administrative, Resources and
Productivity.
---
*Student email, though also a resource, is listed under the
administrative category because of the way the university
communicates. Checking email should be seen as a responsibility for
students, to make sure they are kept updated about whats going on
with the institution. 4The WebQuest Task:Hands-On
Activities:Discuss: And no one ever really instructed me on how to
go about posting on Blackboard, or to navigate WISER. It might have
helped. I think it took me a semester or longer to figure
everything out. Of course, that was a different time. And I know
some students, for whatever reason, will not forward UMB email to a
personal account. Interacting with these internet tools is
important to the UMB experience, and I think there is a reason to
slow things down and do go over some operational instructions. I
cannot have these 101 students pending the semester figuring things
out when I am holding them responsible to use them for class
production.
The webquest will guide students through a series of activities
that engage them with the functions of each site.
For instance, in WISER, students will find valuable course
information and administrative functions, and they will be asked to
forward their UMB student email address to a personal address.
5The WebQuest Task:Hands-On Activities:Students will explore the
tools through which we do research online at the Healey Library
online databases, and course reserves.6The WebQuest Task:Hands-On
Activities:And the tools we use for classroom production, like
Blackboard and course wiki pages.
7The ProcessDiscuss: These activities will have students
practicing with the functions of each tool in order for students to
see how they will be using them. There will be just one task for
each site visited, but I will ask them to view other things on the
site as well.
Mostly there will be written out instructions. Which will guide
students through the tasks step by step.
I might try to develop video tutorials using something Ive found
online thats easy (and free): Screen Recorder. It helped me to make
THIS in approximately 7 minutes: NEXT SLIDE8
*This video is an excerpt from a larger tutorial video on
accessing the Blackboard discussion feature. And yes, I thought
about how I could record desktop activity, searched for a
program--via desktop recorder in a search field--in the Mac App
store, downloaded/setup the FREE program, and recorded the process
of logging into Blackboard all in seven minutes. It was
fun.9EvaluationUnfortunately, because time was a t a premium, I was
unable to get these videos embedded into the WebQuest because
questgarden technology is not equiped to handle the fie of my
screen capture video. I will still work on it by the time I assign
this in the spring.
So, Do we need to evaluate a tutorial? Is that even fair? I
think the best I can do is give full credit based on completion and
likely count it towards participation. These activities are about
acclimation, not mastery.
So I created a checklist that not only has a place to check off
a task thats been completed, there are data entry fields for
students to report back their findings. 10
Discuss: Ive booked a computer lab in the Healey Library, and
the class will do the WebQuest together. I will model how the tasks
can be approached by doing the steps on an overhead projector, and
each student will be able to sit at their own computer following
along. If it is not possible to get it done during our time in the
lab, I will assign the leftovers for homework. My goal is to have
the whole thing take about 40 minutes.11English MA Final
ProjectThis WebQuest will serve as an artifact for My English MA
final project, which entails creating a written homework assignment
sequence for a previously designed reading sequence.
The goal is to move production to a digital sphere by creating
an online presence by means of discussion boards, and
wikispace.
I hope that we will see effects of what Paul Gee describes as a
semiotic domain.
I envision the personal student wiki page, like we have for this
class, will almost act as a Facebook wall, or personal homepage.
This places students at the center of the domain, which I think,
and I hope to prove, is just as important as emulation and group
think occurring in a semiotic domain.
I am still working things out, but you get the tag line of what
I plan to do, and how I plan to approach the project.12
Thank You.*This top picture is not set in the frame of the panel
exactly well. But it is purposefully done in order to have it fill
up the panel during the presentation. I lucked out finding the
right picture that had a rounded fade at the bottom; it seems to
work well with the background of the PowerPoint theme.13
